The Endless Archive
Leave it to the Watcher to plan a Resonance Well trip to the Endless Archive in an actual library. I was walking through Lagos University's library, trying to find a private spot to begin the search. Unlike many libraries in the Sixth World, this one wasn't a mix of 20 different kinds of electronic media and a pile of old dusty books in the back that no one ever used. This one looked and felt like the old libraries I knew as a kid. Plywood shelves huddled together, a safe nest for rows upon rows of hardback books. It felt special, and dare I say it, it felt loved. The students regularly came in, waltzed among the shelves, and took their special "dancing partner" to a desk, where they would share a night of studying and reading. For some reason, this felt right to me. Unfortunately, it also made it difficult to find a quiet and unobserved spot in the place. I finally put up an ARO sign that said "Do Not Enter - Fresh Paint" and put up a makeshift yellow ribbon across the stairwell to the 5th floor. That should hold off the students for a few hours. I also ordered a Sprite to riddle the elevator with Gremlins, at least for folks trying to access the 5th floor. Luckily, the 5th floor was the floor for the pariahs of the library. The self-help books, the out-of-date almanacs, the punk rock history anthologies... all of these were relegated to the 5th floor, a sad collection of useless information that only shows up on trivia shows. The Watcher stood nearby as I approached the shelves. She was dressed as a prissy librarian, her hair in a bun, round black glasses that gave a cold stare. This was combined with a few loose tangles of hair, barely touching her full red pouty lips, and a dress that is cut just conservatively enough to bait more attraction than one would expect. She always had to have the Look. "The sexy librarian. I should have known. You always overdo it, mi'lady." She pulled off her glasses and chewed on the end of it, seductively, "Have you ever known me to underdo it?" "Drama Queen. Look, just show me what we're looking for." I can grow impatient with her mind games. For her, the Look is just a mask, a way to manipulate me. "Oh fine, just walk down the aisle. You'll see it take shape if you know what you are looking for." Instead of arguing, I just walked and looked. I stretched out my E-sensing, but I only found a few electronic devices, nothing in the Resonance. After about the 10th shelf, I noticed something... or rather, someone and I knew I wasn't alone. I saw a figure brush by at the far end of the shelf. I ran down to the end. There was no one there. Instead, there was a painting, sitting above a ledger desk. The painting was moving, given life by some unknown entity. Peering into it, I realized that it was a painting of me, when I was twelve years old. I was just being initiated into a gang and boosting my first motorcycle. I didn't even know how to drive a car, let alone a bike, but I was determined to make them see my quality. "Is this another one of your tricks?" I asked the Watcher. She stood there silently, and waved over to the next aisle. "Everything that ever is and was recorded for all time can be found here. Every scroll, every book, every disk, every chip, everything. If it was written or recorded or filmed or simsensed, it can be found here." "Lagos University sure upped their library budget then." Unfazed by my quip, she pointed to the old fashioned power plug at the end of the wall. "Find your answers there." I pulled out the broken commlink, the one held by the dead Horizon researcher who was looking for a way to bring all languages together. I plugged the unit in, using an adapter that I was told to purchase by the Watcher prior to this walk. I sat down. Nothing. I could feel no information flowing from the commlink through my metal hands. I could feel no Resonance pooling through the wireless signals of my own commlink. I looked up at the Watcher, who pointed at the jack near my elbow. Oh, of course. It always has to be the old ways. I pulled out my optical cable, connected it to my datajack, then to the commlink's port. I jacked in. Before I went unconscious, I could hear the Watcher say "Knowledge is Power. Power is Responsibility."